U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,973 (the '973 patent), filed May 15, 2002, for a “Bed Structure with Storage Area”, and assigned to the same assignee as that of the present invention, is incorporated herein by reference. The '973 patent discloses a bed structure with a platform having a recessed storage area and a deck hingedly mounted to the platform such that the same may serve as a surface upon which a user may lie (e.g., for sleeping), and may be rotated upward for access to the storage area. FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a bed structure 10 having one or more platforms 12 disposed in spaced relation to one another by a set of end frames 14. Each platform 12 has a recessed storage area 16 formed therein by sidewalls 18 of the platform 12. A deck 20 is rotatably mounted to the platform 12 to alternately cover the recessed storage area 16 and provide access to the storage area 16.
Depending on the construction of the deck 20, it may have a weight well over 100 pounds, and in one embodiment of the bed structure 10 the deck 20 weighs over 190 pounds. Not only does this make it difficult to manually rotate the deck 20 upward, but also presents a serious danger of the deck 20 accidentally falling downward if the deck 20 is “propped-up” to hold open the access to the recessed storage area 16. Although lifting mechanisms for such decks 20, such as gas springs, have been proposed for assisting in deck lifting, the high forces needed for upward rotation of the deck 20 from the most downward position would require a very strong gas spring arrangement. Further, gas springs often require maintenance over time and typically wear out within a certain number of cycles. Additionally, these types of lifting mechanisms often do not support holding up the deck 20 at a selected angle of rotation other than a fully “open” position.